Tanks: Peace Keeping Operations

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost per track/road mile, excluding crew costs, of operating the  (a) Challenger 2 Tank,  (b) Mastiff and  (c) Bulldog in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: Operational track mile cost data are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The full capitation cost for the Challenger 2 Tank (all variants) based on peacetime usage is calculated as 496.15 per kilometre.
	Costs for the Mastiff and Bulldog are not currently available as these vehicles have only recently entered service.

Agriculture: Children

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what resources the Government have allocated to support the Year of Food and Farming initiative  (a) in total and  (b) in relation to facilitating the access of children to farms.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA has worked closely with the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health, and other stakeholders to support the Year of Food and Farming (YFF). We have provided financial support to develop the programme, including 130,000 of funding last financial year to support the start-up phase. In addition, DEFRA has lent a member of staff to the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) to work on the initiative. However, the YFF is an industry-led campaign, and the bulk of funding and sponsorship is coming from industry partners.
	DEFRA is committed to developing the understanding young people have of where and how their food is produced. To that end, we provide approximately £1 million a year in payments to farmers who provide educational visits to their farms as part of their agri-environment scheme agreements. In addition, in this financial year, DEFRA will provide £146,000 for the Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation Scheme (CEVAS), which provides training to farmers who provide educational access visits. This amounts to 50 per cent. of the scheme's funding.

Embassies: Manpower

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff were employed in UK embassies abroad in each year since 1980.

Geoff Hoon: The following table sets out the number of staff employed at Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) posts overseas on 1 April for each year since 1995. Figures are not available for the year 2000.
	We do not hold records centrally of staff numbers in embassies and consulates overseas for years prior to 1995. To compile this data would incur disproportionate cost.
	
		
			   Number of UK based staff  Number of locally engaged staff 
			 2007 2,807 10,730 
			 2006 2,798 10,063 
			 2005 2,719 10,811 
			 2004 2,673 9,466 
			 2003 (1)2,017 9,062 
			 2002 2,611 9,098 
			 2001 2,600 8,795 
			 2000 n/a n/a 
			 1999 2,595 n/a 
			 1998 2,336 n/a 
			 1997 2,350 n/a 
			 1996 2,415 n/a 
			 1995 2,472 n/a 
			 (1) A new Management Information system was introduced in 2004. The figures for the transition period in 2003 are less reliable: they are likely to be an underestimate. 
		
	
	In addition there are a small number of staff who are employed locally and are not paid through the FCO payroll. These numbers are not held centrally and have not been included.
	The overall increase in staffing at our posts overseas is due to a rise in the number of staff delivering consular and visa services to the public. These staff positions are funded out of revenue generated by the sale of passports and visas. Their number is therefore dependent on demand. This increase masks a significant reduction over the same period in the number of staff, funded from central budgets, performing other diplomatic functions.

Mediterranean Region: International Cooperation

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response she has made to French proposals to create a union of Mediterranean countries.

Ian McCartney: We look forward to discussing this proposal with the French government as and when details emerge.

Child Alcohol Consumption

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the amount of alcohol consumed by children in the latest period for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: The mean alcohol consumption of pupils who had drunk in the week prior to interview doubled from 5.3 units in 1990 to 10.4 units in 2000, and has fluctuated around this level since then.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the evidential basis is for the conclusion of her Department's National Director for Emergency Access that an acute hospital with a catchment population of between 400,000 and 500,000 people would be better able to deliver consultant-led services, as stated in his e-mail of 27 March to Dr. Mark Signy of Worthing and Southlands Hospital NHS Trust.

Caroline Flint: There is increasing consensus among professional bodies that a critical size of hospital is required to ensure that specialist facilities are available to treat all patients with emergency needs safely. While the actual populations hospitals will serve in the future will differ slightly across the country, in general they will need to serve larger populations than is currently the case. Different clinical specialties may also have different demands in terms of the number of cases required to maintain clinical expertise.
	In providing advice to any local area, I am confident that Sir George Alberti will have based his advice on ensuring and improving quality and safety of care for local people.
	Ultimately, it is a matter for the local national health service to ensure the provision of urgent and emergency care services, including accident and emergency facilities, that are responsive to people's needs. We have made clear to the NHS that they should consider a range of factors in putting together any case for change and produce a clear business case before consultation begins.

Paedophilia: Convictions

Jamie Reed: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice in what ways offender management and sentencing policy protects the public from convicted paedophiles being managed within the community.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government are committed to protecting the public and is determined to ensure there are robust arrangements for dealing with sex offenders in the community. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 created new sentences aimed specifically at sexual and violent offenders. These new sentences are designed to protect the public, and will ensure that dangerous sexual and violent offenders are subject to assessment by the parole board, and in serious cases not released from prison where their level of risk is deemed too high.
	Through Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA)—statutory requirements for the police, probation and prison services to co-operate in managing potentially dangerous offenders—the way in which child sex offenders are managed in the UK has been revolutionised. It is our intention to look carefully at how this can be built on and strengthened.
	Community Notification is an important tool which already exists within the current MAPPA system through the police and naturally we want to explore whether the lessons from other countries, might have value in the UK.
	The phased introduction of the NOMS Offender Management Model is improving the way in which sentences are organised and delivered across the probation and prison services, but paedophiles are already subject to robust arrangements.

Young Offenders: Secure Accommodation

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many secure accommodation places there are for juveniles.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There are currently 3,529 places for young people in the secure estate for children and young people. 3,003 are in young offender institutions, 301 in secure training centres and 235 in secure children's homes. These figures have been provided by the Youth Justice Board.
	The actual daily availability will vary. Places may be out of commission for various reasons, for example because of damage.

Young Offenders: Secure Accommodation

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many  (a) boys and  (b) girls were held in juvenile secure accommodation in each of the last 10 years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The figures in the following table have been provided by the Youth Justice Board, which has been responsible for purchasing and commissioning places in the secure estate for children and young people since 2000. The table shows the total number of boys and girls under 18 in custody at the end of June in each year from 2000 onwards and covers the three sectors of the estate (young offender's institutions, secure training centre and secure children's homes). Complete data for earlier years is not held centrally.
	
		
			   Male  Female 
			 2000 2,677 148 
			 2001 2,666 155 
			 2002 2,849 222 
			 2003 2,586 198 
			 2004 2,561 187 
			 2005 2,610 215 
			 2006 2,707 211

Railways: Hampshire

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average travel time was by rail between  (a) Portsmouth and Waterloo via Eastleigh and  (b) Southampton and Waterloo in each year since 1997.

Tom Harris: The average journey time comparison for 1997 to 2007 are listed as follows.
	
		
			  Portsmouth-London Waterloo via Eastleigh 
			   Time 
			 1997 2h 17 
			 1998 2h 17 
			 1999 2h 23 
			 2000 2h 23 
			 2001 2h 23 
			 2002 2h 23 
			 2003 2h 23 
			 2004 2h 01 
			 2005 2h 12 
			 2006 2h 12 
			 2007 2h 12 
		
	
	
		
			  Southampton-London Waterloo 
			   Time 
			 1997 1h 13 
			 1998 1h 13 
			 1999 1h 16 
			 2000 1h 16 
			 2001 1h 18 
			 2002 1h 16 
			 2003 1h 16 
			 2004 1h 18 
			 2005 1h 19 
			 2006 1h 19 
			 2007 1h 19 
		
	
	The Portsmouth to Waterloo via Eastleigh service has been subject to various stopping patterns. Prior to 2004 it was literally all stations, then became fast from Basingstoke, and now is a semi fast.
	The Southampton to Waterloo journey time is based on the fast service and has marginally increased through extended dwell times with the modern stock.

Council Tax: Armed Forces

Mark Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with  (a) the Ministry of Defence and  (b) the Department of Communities and Local Government on the proposed council tax waiver for service personnel on operations overseas; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: Treasury Ministers and officials have frequent meetings with colleagues from other Government Departments on a wide range of issues as part of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.

Departments: Freedom of Information

Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many requests were made to his Department under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in each year since 2005; and how many of those requests were unsuccessful.

John Healey: For the most recent monitoring statistics I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Harriet Harman) on 18 April 2007,  Official Report, column 7WS.

Revenue and Customs: Offices

Alan Meale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many responses to the consultation on HM Revenue and Customs local offices were received, broken down by  (a) area and  (b) medium of contact.

John Healey: The number of responses to each of the staff and union consultation exercises that have so far been concluded, and summary findings published to staff, under HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) regional review programme are set out in the table.
	All staff and union responses were sent by e-mail, most to a dedicated mailbox. Treasury Ministers and the Board of HMRC have also received written responses direct from hon. Members and other external stakeholders as shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Urban centre/consultation ended  Number of e-mail responses  Number of staff represented by responses  Number of MPs responding  Number of others responding 
			  London 
			 Central London 185 1,580 0 0 
			 5 October 2006 
			 Outer London 129 1,106 8 4 
			 21 February 2007 
			  
			  South East 
			 Reading 26 114 0 0 
			 Southampton and Portsmouth 156 420 5 10 
			 21 February 2007 
			  
			  East 
			 Peterborough 54 122 4 0 
			 Southend 32 75 4 0 
			  
			  East Midlands 
			 Northampton 39 178 4 0 
			 Nottingham/Derby and Leicester 162 336 15 4 
			  Yorkshire and Humberside 
			 Leeds/Bradford/Shipley 190 687 18 16 
			 Sheffield 76 188 5 1 
			 14 March 2007

Tax Allowances: Disabled

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what training HM Revenue and Customs officials receive on the use of VAT and tax exemption booklets which refer to exemptions for which people with disabilities are eligible.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs runs a comprehensive training programme for compliance staff on VAT lasting over .seven months. Training covering reliefs from VAT is undertaken by officers at foundation level, which covers the first year of training and operational work. As part of this programme there is a mandatory learning unit covering Reliefs for Disabled People and Charities, this covers the tax exemptions booklets that refer to exemptions for which people with disabilities are eligible. These are also covered in other learning units on Scope of Zero rating, Construction Industry and Land and Property.

UN Licensing System

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 3 July 2006,  Official Report, column 25WS, on the UN Licensing System, for how many individuals his Department instructed the Department of Work and Pensions to suspend benefit payments in each month since July 2006.

James Plaskitt: I have been asked to reply.
	Following the Economic Secretary to the Treasury's statement about counter terrorism and the licensing system, in which he announced that benefit paid to members of the households of listed persons fall within the prohibitions on making funds available to listed person, four spouses of persons listed by the UN under the Al-Qaida and Taliban financial sanctions regime had their benefit suspended in mid July 2006. To date, there have been no further suspensions of benefit of the spouses or household members, of listed persons. All four spouses whose benefit was suspended now have it paid under licence, three of whom have it paid into an account set up and controlled by the Treasury.
	In addition, four individuals who have themselves been listed under United Nations legislation or designated by the Treasury under the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2006 have had their benefits suspended—one in August 2006, one in December 2006, one in January/February 2007 and one in March/April 2007. Some of these have applied or are applying to the Treasury for a licence to enable benefit to be reinstated.
	A significantly greater number of individuals than this, have been listed or designated under the Terrorism Order but no current action is required because they are not in receipt of benefit. This is commonly because the individual is being held on remand in prison.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total value of private finance initiative projects included in his Department's balance sheet  (a) is in 2007 and  (b) was in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office does not have any private finance initiative projects, and so none are listed on our balance sheet. Under the machinery of Government change, in June 2003 the Wales Office became a separate entity within the Department for Constitutional Affairs (now Ministry of Justice). Prior to 2003 services for the Wales Office were supplied via the National Assembly for Wales.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the value was of annual private finance initiative payments made by his Department from  (a) capital and  (b) revenue budgets in each of the last five years.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office does not have any private finance initiative projects. Under the machinery of Government change, in June 2003 the Wales Office became a separate entity within the Department for Constitutional Affairs (now Ministry of Justice). Prior to 2003 services for the Wales Office were supplied via the National Assembly for Wales.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what value of annual private finance initiative payments by his Department was classified as  (a) identifiable and  (b) non-identifiable in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office does not have any private finance initiative projects. Under the machinery of Government change, in June 2003 the Wales Office became a separate entity within the Department for Constitutional Affairs (now Ministry of Justice). Prior to 2003 the Wales Office services were supplied by the National Assembly for Wales

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what value of annual private finance initiative (PFI) payments by his Department was  (a) to repay capital and  (b) expenditure on other parts of each PFI contract in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office does not have any private finance initiative projects. Under the machinery of Government change, in June 2003 the Wales Office became a separate entity within the Department for Constitutional Affairs (now Ministry of Justice).
	Prior to 2003 the Wales Office services were supplied by the National Assembly for Wales.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to improve understanding of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis among employers.

Anne McGuire: The Department recognises that chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis is a real and potentially debilitating condition that can affect individuals' capability for work and their chances of finding and retaining employment. However, our work to engage and support employers and tackle discrimination is not focused on specific conditions but looks at health conditions and disabilities in the round.
	DWP has, in recent years, run a number of campaigns aimed at raising the general awareness of disability issues among employers and are currently developing an employer-led campaign to better engage employers with the recruitment and retention of disabled people. The campaign will address issues at both corporate and local delivery levels. It will also seek to influence the attitudes and behaviour of expert advisers and job market intermediaries.
	Meanwhile, changing employer perceptions on health problems has been identified as a key priority for the cross-government Health, Work and Well-being Strategy. The strategy's National Stakeholder Council, which comprises senior members of key stakeholder groups such as the Confederation of British Industry, Federation of Small Businesses, Trades Union Congress and Association of British Insurers, has decided that one of its four areas of focus will be on "engaging employers as leading advocates of change".

Departments: Task Forces

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what  (a) task forces and  (b) units operate in his Department; what the annual budget is of each; and how many staff each unit employs, broken down by civil service grade.

Anne McGuire: The information requested is set out in the following tables. The information in the tables covers all of the Department's task forces. The information on businesses units represents the most detailed breakdown available from centrally held records.
	The Department's organisational architecture comprises business units designed to deliver: departmental-wide strategy and planning; strategies and policies to meet the needs of particular customer groups; direct delivery of services to customers; and delivery of departmental-wide shared services. Within each of these business units specific responsibilities fall to functions designated as directorates and divisions.
	Also within these business units there are smaller business functions that are described as units but data are not held centrally on their functions, budgets or staffing and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Task force  Staff profile by grade  Financial allocation for 2007-08 (£) 
			 Jobcentre Plus Provision Forum 1 x SCS PB 2(1)( )3 x SCS PB 1(1)( )1 x Band F(1) (2)800 
			
			 Health Professionals Advisory Group Grade SCS PB2 and Band C(1) (3)0 
			
			 Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) Ethics Committee 2 x Band G (3)0 
			  1 x Band F (3)0 
			
			 Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force Band E and Band D(1) 15,000 
			
			 Transformation of the Personal Capability Assessment (PCA) Consultative Group SCS PB 1(1) (3)0 
			
			 Health Work and Well-being (HWWB) National Stakeholder Council 0 civil servants 50,000 
			
			 SSP (Statutory Sick Pay) Review Group Band E and Band D(1) (3)0 
			
			 Official Error 1 x SCS PB1(1) (4)0 
			  4 x UG6(1) (4)0 
			  2 x UG7(1) (4)0 
			  3 x SEO(1) (4)0 
			  1 x HEO(1) (4)0 
			 (1) On part-time basis. (2) £800 per year for meetings only. (3) No funding other than staff costs. (4) No dedicated budget. 
		
	
	
		
			  DWP staffing as at 31 March 2007 
			  Business  SCS  G6/G7  SEO  HEO  EO  AO/AA  Total 
			 Jobcentre Plus 58 503 1,129 3,847 25,589 36,820 67,946 
			 The Pension Service 22 159 309 683 3,750 7,785 12,707 
			 Child Support Agency 23 131 146 515 2,989 7,420 11,224 
			 Disability Carers Service 7 48 76 298 2,143 3,415 5,988 
			 Shared Services 5 64 106 246 871 3,260 4,553 
			 The Rent Service 1 12 25 90 372 143 643 
			 Work Welfare and Equality Group 35 217 190 316 241 102 1,102 
			 Pensions Client Directorate 21 93 85 142 62 56 459 
			 Group Finance 23 118 188 372 610 208 1,519 
			 Human Resources 11 62 88 209 169 68 607 
			 Programme and Systems Delivery 29 137 50 52 35 16 319 
			 Other Corporate Units 42 251 121 359 365 268 1,406 
			 Total DWP 277 1,796 2,514 7,129 37,195 59,561 108,472 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are full time equivalent (rounded) 2. Other corporate units include Change Management, Information Directorate, Strategy, Solicitors, Private Office, Communications and independent statutory bodies 3. Figures may not sum due to rounding 
		
	
	
		
			  Departmental resource allocations 2007-08 
			  £ million 
			  Business  Total resource 2007-08 
			 Jobcentre Plus 2,807 
			 The Pension Service 515 
			 Child Support Agency 443 
			 Disability Carers Service 208 
			 Shared Services 1 
			 The Rent Service 35 
			 Work Welfare and Equality Group 1,872 
			 Pensions Client Directorate 117 
			 Group Finance 600 
			 Human Resources 81 
			 Programme and Systems Delivery 702 
			 Other corporate units 713 
			 Total DWP 8,094 
			  Notes: 1. Figures do not include EYF from 2006-07 as carry forward to 2007-08 not yet agreed. 2. Figures include EYF from 2005-06, but the draw down has not been agreed with HMT, therefore may feature in the final allocation. 3. Figures do not include additional funding as agreed by the 2007 Budget. 4. The figure is for total resource and includes Admin, DEL programme and capital.  Source: Period 12 2006-07 Budget Book

Pensions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Government have taken to protect and regulate pensions in each year since 1997.

James Purnell: holding answer 30 April 2007
	Since 1997, the Government have introduced or strengthened a number of safeguards to protect and regulate defined benefit occupational pension schemes.
	In August 1998 the Financial Services Regulator announced a further stage of the review covering those not in the priority categories to identify cases where people were badly advised to opt out of, not join, and/or transfer funds from an occupational pension scheme in favour of a persons! pension.
	From 30 December 2005 new scheme funding requirements require trustees to develop prudent scheme funding strategies, on a scheme specific basis, for meeting their scheme's pension commitments.
	A series of other Regulations between 2002 and 2005, strengthened the employer debt for schemes in wind-up, resulting in a 'full buy-out' debt for schemes sponsored by solvent and insolvent employers, or where an employer withdraws from a multi-employer scheme.
	The Pensions Act 2004 introduced:
	The Pensions Regulator, which replaced Opra from 6 April 2005 this has a broad range of powers to help fulfil its statutory objectives. These include protecting the benefits of occupational pension scheme members. The Regulators act quickly to anticipate and tackle any risks to the benefits of those members.
	The Pension Protection Fund, which provides protection to members of eligible defined benefit occupational pension schemes where the employer becomes insolvent (after 6 April 2005) and leaves the scheme under funded. The Pension Protection Fund went live on 6 April 2005.
	The Financial Assistance Scheme, which provides support to members of defined benefit occupational pension schemes which started to wind up, under funded (between 1 January 1997 and 5 April 2005). The Financial Assistance Scheme began operations on 1 September 2005.
	Government legislated to create a new FSA-regulated activity of establishing, operating or winding up a personal pension scheme, with a new rules taking effect from 6 April 2007. This change will extend consumer protection to all aspects of personal pensions as well as open the market up to greater competition.